By Shelley Kofler, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-969917.mp3
Fort Worth, TX – On Saturday, conservationists and plant lovers from around the world and country will gather in Fort Worth as the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) opens its new center which it's touting as one of the "greenest" locations in Texas.
BRIT looks to plants for solutions in solving global problems like pollution cleanup, hunger and water shortages.
Through private donations and grants BRIT supports botanical research in Texas and around the world, and in its new $48 million, energy efficient home it will house the Institute's growing collection of more than one million dried plant specimens.
Sy Sohmer: Our mission is a conservation mission. A mission dealing with sustainability and this building speaks to that mission.
BRIT President and Director Sy Sohmer says the new 70,000 square foot headquarters in Fort Worth's Cultural District will be the first in Tarrant County, just the eighth in Texas, to earn the LEED Platinum environmental designation.
Everything about it is focused on conservation and reusing natural resources.
Sohmer: From the living roof that actually represents a subset of the Fort Worth prairie, to the 168 geothermal wells that will supply most of the heat and cooling, to the landscaping, the whole building visibly speaks to our mission.
Sohmer says shallow depressions and a retention pond on the five-acre tract will hold rainwater and runoff that can be used to irrigate a landscape filled with native plants.
The building materials are sustainable too. Cypress paneling comes from logs that sank to the bottom of the Mississippi. Ceilings are constructed of quick-growing bamboo which matures in six years. The building design maximizes natural light which reduces the need for electricity.
Sy Sohmer hopes the new BRIT center will inspire its visitors to include conservation in their lives.
Link to info on BRIT and Grand Opening